Since everyone else is posting on the weather or the playoffs, I figured I'd post on a wine. So, tonight with some really nice veal parm and pasta, I opened a 2011 Ravenswood CA Zin. Obviously not a world beater, but this little sucker held its own and tasted just fine.

I'm pretty much doing the same.... sticking with a few staples under about $25 and shying away from the good stuff.

Have you noticed the prices of '09 Bordeaux?? Good grief! Those I love from St Julien (Lagrange, Talbot, Gloria, et al) have jumped from mid 20's to mid 90's! What the blue blazes is going on with that?

'09 was a rocking vintage, and the chateau's all got greedy. They thought they could price at luxury item level and sell them all to the East.... Of course, since they were amazing, they did sell well but by absorbing all the secondary profits that flippers could make, and then having a "poor" vintage in '11, now wines so much more expensive than '06-'08's that are still out on the market. Gonna be thought to get through in the next few years. For me, I got a lot of '09s but now buying '08s as they are much better value (50-60% of price of '09) and drinking very well with much life ahead of them.